The Tolmin Gorges, where Triglav park drops to 180 metres

The circular gorge walk

A circular path leads through both gorges. At the confluence, at 180 m, is the lowest point in the whole national park. Along the way you pass a thermal spring, with water at an average temperature of between 18.8 and 20.8 °C. The Devil’s Bridge spans the canyon 60 m above the Tolminka, and from it you get a real sense of how deep the gorge is.

In the Zadlaščica canyon a large rock has become wedged between the walls, and it’s known as the Bear’s Head. Close by is the Zadlaška cave, also called Dante’s Cave after the poet Dante Alighieri.

The Municipality of Tolmin and the Soča Valley Tourist Board work with local people to keep this corner clean and safe, which is why entry is limited. As it lies inside the national park, stay on the path, don’t throw anything into the water and take your rubbish home with you, as you would in the valley’s other gorges.

Tickets and numbers

Visitor numbers are capped, so the Soča Valley Tourist Board recommends buying your ticket online and choosing a time slot in advance; prices and hours are shown in that shop. The path has many steps and isn’t suitable for pushchairs, so with a baby a carrier is the way to go, and dogs are allowed on a lead. The gorges stay open in the rain and only close for storms or high water. I’d wear hiking shoes, because the stones get slippery when it’s damp.

Getting to the gorges and parking

Next to the entrance is a paid car park, P1, for cars only, which charges from Easter Sunday to 30 September. The free alternatives are P2, at the far end of Tolmin towards Zatolmin, 15 minutes away on a well-kept path, and P3, at the entrance to town, half an hour on foot. Motorbikes park free beside P1 and there are free spaces for disabled visitors right by the entrance. From central Tolmin you can also simply walk.

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What else to see around Tolmin

Further up the Tolminka is the Javorca church, from the First World War, and a few kilometres away is the lake at Most na Soči. If gorges are your thing, the Great Soča Gorge near Bovec is another of the valley’s highlights, although you can only see it from a few viewpoints along the path. On the Sotočje meadow, where the Tolminka reaches the Soča, Metaldays used to be held, and metal carries on there today with Tolminator.

So you do not lose the morning at the ticket office, browse tickets and tours in Tolmin Gorges on GetYourGuide.

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